Daniel Wallace's Geekosity

More Sneak Peeks at Star Wars: Book of Sith

2012-02-01T14:10:00.001-06:00

Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side is coming out on February 10, and a lot of sites have released previews of its content.

Newsmagazine The Daily did a feature and a video segment. Normally The Daily is subscription-based and exclusive to tablet readers, but they did provide a public link to the Book of Sith preview here, and the video segment has also been posted on their YouTube channel.

io9 has been one of my favorite sites for years, so I was happy to see this Book of Sith story from Charlie Jane Anders which features some of the wonderful creature illustrations of Terryl Whitlach. Terryl, who was one of the concept artists on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, designed all the Sith animals in the book including the silooth and the battle hydra.

Over on MTV Geek, the great Laurel Woods posted some new info about Book of Sith including an exclusive peek at the Nightsister pages written by The Clone Wars' Mother Talzin.

Other interior images from the Book of Sith have appeared on Star Wars sites around the web. Here's some Darth Sidious pages from Rebelscum.com and TheForce.net.

Here's JediNews with a peek at different Nightsister pages by Mother Talzin.

Here's Roqoo Depot with pages from the Sith Alchemy section.

Finally, I recently did an audio interview about Book of Sith with Eric Ratcliffe for the "Why I Love Comics" podcast. Give it a listen!

Necessary PR Addendum: Please contact Elena Stokes, Wunderkind PR, email: elena(at)wunderkind-pr(dot)com, to book an interview with the author or to request an excerpt of the deluxe special edition of BOOK OF SITH.

IGN Reveals Trailer for Star Wars: Book of Sith

2011-11-22T16:12:00.001-06:00

IGN got an exclusive on the new Star Wars: Book of Sith trailer. Check it out!

Like The Jedi Path trailer from last year, this splices Star Wars movie and game footage with shots of the Book of Sith holocron case, its removable souvenirs, and the book pages themselves. Big thanks to the guys at FlyingSpot for making the trailer look so good, and to the designers of becker&mayer! for making Book of Sith look so good.

IGN has more about Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side here.

The Wall Street Journal Reviews The Joker: A Visual History of the Clown Prince of Crime

2011-11-21T14:19:00.001-06:00

The Wall Street Journal published a review of The Joker: A Visual History of the Clown Prince of Crime over the weekend, in the Sat/Sun November 19-20, 2011 edition. It's a full-page article and it's very positive!

The review is written by Chip Kidd, one of the great graphic designers of all time and somebody who really knows his Batman (he wrote Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan, among others). So I was hugely gratified that he liked it.

I met Chip briefly at a DC event during New York Comic-Con 2010 and he was great. This is the guy who designed the iconic cover to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, for pete's sake:

Here's the online version of the Joker review on WSJ.com. Says Kidd: "The result is a treat and a must-have for any Batman (and thus Joker) fan."

Star Wars Events in Minneapolis/St. Paul Area This Weekend

2011-11-08T10:27:00.001-06:00

If you're a Star Wars fan and you live in or near the Twin Cities, I hope to see you this Saturday! I'll be at two events on Saturday Nov. 12 2011, along with costumed members of the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, an R2 unit from the R2 Builder's Club, and other coolness.

First off is Star Wars Galactic Adventure!, a special presentation at the Ridgedale Library from 10:30am-12:00pm which will also feature the great Star Wars novelist Troy Denning. Here's the details on the event from the library's site:

Star Wars Galactic Adventure!
Ridgedale Library
Saturday, Nov. 12, 10:30am-noon
Preschool and up with their families and caregivers. Discover the science behind Star Wars such as the STEM vocabulary. Meet ZEEBO, the latest robot built by teen robot builders! Enjoy a galactic storytime, watch a Star Wars sketch artist, and meet R2-D2, stormtroopers and other fun Star Wars characters!
Sponsored by Friends of the Ridgedale Library; Sponsored by the Abdo Publishing and presented in collaboration with the Minnesota Chapter of the 501st Legion and the Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816 -- The Green Machine.

Ridgedale Library
12601 Ridgedale Dr.
Minnetonka, MN 55305
http://www.hclib.org/pub/events/AllEventsAction.cfm?da=12&mo=11&ye=2011

Next up it's the Twin Cities stop for DK Publishing's Star Wars in Your Stocking national tour! The 501st, the Rebel Legion, and R2-D2 will all be there, and DK will be doing plenty of free giveaways plus the opportunity to win some nice Star Wars prizes. It's at the Barnes & Noble in Rosedale's HarMar Mall. Here's the description from DK's site:

Star Wars in Your Stocking Tour
Barnes & Noble #2614
Saturday, Nov. 12, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Come celebrate Star Wars in Your Stocking with Star Wars author Dan Wallace and the costumed characters of the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion. Giveaways, photo ops and a chance to win Star Wars prizes!

Barnes & Noble #2614

HarMar Mall

2100 North Snelling Ave

Roseville, MN 55113

http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2614/

Check out this page for more on DK's Star Wars in Your Stocking Tour, or follow DK Publishing's Star Wars line on Facebook.

Be sure to come on down!

Now Available for Preorder -- Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side

2011-10-31T00:35:00.001-05:00

Although we premiered it at New York Comic-Con, I wanted to remind everybody that Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side is now available for preorder at Amazon.

The Book of Sith is a follow-up of sorts to 2010's The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, which provided a look at the training rituals of the Jedi Knights and which came in a cool mechanized vault with removable souvenirs. (It's also available in a cheaper trade edition as of September 2011.)

For this expose of the dark side we chose not to create a Sith textbook, since the Sith are far too jealous of their own power to share it widely. Instead we created Emperor Palpatine's personal journal, made from sections of ancient texts that Palpatine ripped from their original sources and bound together in this new volume. The sections that Palpatine chose to preserve illuminate important aspects of Sith philosophy (I tried to draw on real-world influences like Sun Tzu and Leonardo Da Vinci to help ground the belief systems) and presumably gave him the Sith knowledge to execute his galactic takeover.

From the product description, here are the authors of each of the six sections (Palpatine couldn't resist adding his own, naturally):

• A chronicle by Sorzus Syn of her encounters with Sith Purebloods, explorations in alchemy, and the foundations of the Sith Order.
• A war journal kept by Darth Malgus during the Great Galactic War, describing methods of war and the campaigns of the Sith army.
• A source book by Darth Bane that details the idea and the philosophy behind the Rule of Two as well as the training required for a Sith.
• An instructional manual by Mother Talzin exploring the Nightsisters’ use of the dark side and their role as dark side mercenaries in the galaxy.
• A scientific journal by Darth Plagueis with notes about his experimentation with and manipulation of the Force.
• Darth Sidious’s manifesto about the philosophy and political manipulation that marked his rise to power and established his Empire.

And, just as with The Jedi Path, the pages have handwritten notes that provide a running commentary on the main text. These vary section by section, but expect to see comments by Palpatine, Darth Vader, Asajj Ventress, Yoda, Mace Windu, Quinlan Vos, and Luke Skywalker. Yoda and Mace Windu, we assumed, would have commented on the texts while they were held in the Jedi Archive's rare documents collection. Palpatine would therefore have looted these documents from the burning Temple after the events of Order 66.

The removable souvenirs will be a scrap of a Sith burial shroud, a battle map from the days of Darth Malgus, a red Sith lightsaber crystal, a Nightsister talisman, a diagram detailing Palpatine’s political strategies during the Clone Wars, a propaganda poster for the Galactic Empire, and a note from Luke Skywalker explaining how he came into possession of the Book of Sith.

The designers of becker&mayer! really outdid themselves on this one. The Jedi Path was already great, but this one is demonstrably better based on the prototype I spent time with at NYCC. It's modeled after a pyramidal Sith Holocron, and pushing a button raises a sliding panel and slowly pushes out the 160-page book accompanied by red lights and eerie sound effects. Pushing the button again reverses the process. The artists on Book of Sith include Paul Allan Ballard, Jeff Carlisle, Chris Reiff, Chris Trevas, Russell Walks, Terryl Whitlatch, and the illustrators of Aristia/Hive Studios.

For a look at all the goods, be sure to check out the official Book of Sith press release here and the Book of Sith coverage on StarWars.com. When I was at NYCC I caught up with Laurel Woods of MTV Geek, and here's her writeup plus photos and a video of the prototype vault opening and closing.

The official release date is February 10, 2012 (to coincide with the 3-D theatrical release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace), but you can pre-order the vault edition now at amazon.com/bookofsith.

New York Comic-Con 2011 Wrap-Up

2011-10-18T21:31:00.000-05:00

I had a great time at New York Comic-Con! Was only there for Friday and Saturday, but I talked about books, caught up with friends, and took pics of some staggering cosplay.

Here's an interview with ClevverMovies about Book of Sith and The Jedi Path:

And here's me chatting up Darth Vader: A 3-D Reconstruction Log and The Joker: A Visual History of the Clown Prince of Crime:

And here's a slideshow of my con pics. Thanks NYC!

The Joker's 10 Best Quotes, Inspired by The Joker: A Visual History of the Clown Prince of Crime

2011-10-11T00:42:00.000-05:00

On sale today is The Joker: A VIsual History of the Clown Prince of Crime. This beautiful art book published by Rizzoli is my exploration of Batman's arch-foe, spanning the decades from his 1940 debut until today.

Both a comic book encyclopedia and a psychological profile of a sociopath, The Joker deconstructs DC's greatest villain (sorry Lex, it was really close!) in sections like Bag of Tricks, Partners in Crime, Shattered Mirror, and Killer Smile.

I love the Joker. But one thing you learn when digging into his pop culture history is that every decade sees a new reinvention. In the '40s he was a macabre gangster. The '50s saw him become a harmless figure of fun, and the '60s were defined by the giggling Cesar Romero on the Batman TV show. The Joker got his killer groove back in the '70s, and the '80s delivered the one-two punch of Alan Moore's The Killing Joke and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (not to mention Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's big-screen Batman) which vaulted the Joker to the top of DC's villain pantheon. The '90s are noted for Mark Hamill's star turn as a sadistically devious Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, and Heath Ledger earned a posthumous Oscar for his anarchic Joker in 2009's The Dark Knight.

This makes perfect sense when you remember that the Joker is a figure of chaos. Writers like Grant Morrison have basically stated that all these incarnations exist in-universe, as personas the Joker has tried on as if changing into new costumes when he gets bored.

The book is available in both hardcover and softcover versions and I absolutely love how it turned out. Big thanks to Rizzoli's Robb Pearlman, DC's Steve Korte, and the legendary Mark Hamill, who contributed the book's introduction.

To celebrate the launch, here's my 10 favorite Joker quotes of all time!

1) "If the police expect to play against the Joker, they had best be prepared to be dealt from the bottom of the deck!"
-- Batman #1 (1940)
This one scores for historical context. Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, and Bob Kane got things running with the excellent Batman #1, which introduced the Joker and told a tale both creepy and surprisingly violent. Card-related puns like this would become increasingly common during the Silver Age of the 1950s.

2) "Kid, I'm the Joker. I don't just randomly kill people. I kill people when it's funny."
-- Batman #686 (2009)
This is a Neil Gaiman line from the dreamlike two-parter "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" set during Batman's wake. Not only does this quote provide a great rule for comics writers to follow, it also echoes a classic exchange from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

3) "You'll never be sad, and you'll never be lonely. You'll always have me to dance with."
-- Batman Confidential #12 (2008)
Both ominous and weirdly sweet, this quote neatly sums up the relationship between Batman and the Joker. Violent crime is all just a dance to the Joker, and Batman is the date he walked in with.

4) "I'm not mad at all. I'm just differently sane."
-- Batman and Robin #14 (2010)
Grant Morrison gets down to the heart of the matter with this line that's 50% clinical and 50% Alice in Wonderland ("we're all mad here"). This is a theme of Morrison's, namely that the Joker is the first specimen of a new evolutionary leap called "super sanity" to help humans deal with life's tragedies and absurdities.

5) "If you have to explain a joke, there is no joke!"
-- Mad Love (1994)
The best line from an Eisner-winning comic, which works as an exporation of the weirdly lopsided love triangle between the Joker, Batman, and Harley Quinn. It's a great reminder that the Joker's actions aren't random, but are instead driven by a flair for style and a sense of comedic timing.

6) "His mask is his real face."
-- Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989)
The Joker says this when a gaggle of Arkham inmates try to unmask Batman. Not only does it show where the Joker's true priorities lie, it's absolutely true.

7) "This town deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them."
-- The Dark Knight (2008)
There tons of great quotes by Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight, but I like this one for the way it opens up Gotham and pays off the "escalation" conversation between Batman and Commissioner Gordon in Batman Begins.

8) "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy."
-- The Killing Joke (1988)
In a single line, here's the "one bad day" theory of the Joker's origins. This doesn't only apply to the Joker, but to Batman too.

9) "Why be a disfigured outcast when I can be a notorious Crime God? Why be an orphaned boy when you can be a superhero?"
-- Batman #663 (2007)
This is the perfect followup to quote #8 above, which appeared in a mold-breaking prose story in the main Batman comic. Once you've experienced your One Bad Day, what path do you take? And did Batman and the Joker really create their own realities, or are there still hints of the orphaned boy chasing the disfigured outcast at the end of the day?

10) "Hey, that splash panel where you came through the window, that was just the coolest. I never get panels like that."
-- "A Black and White World," Batman Black and White vol. 1 (1996)
This line is best read in context, but it comes from one of my favorite Batman stories of all time. In "A Black and White World," Neil Gaiman imagines Batman and the Joker as actors flipping through magazines in the green room before going on-panel to perform their comic book action. After the Joker makes the comment above, Batman replies with, "So? You get to make speeches. I don't get to make speeches." The Joker's final, world-weary observation? "What the hell. At least we're both working."

Honorable Mention:
"Well look at the size of that cake, man!"
-- "Joker's Favor," Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski, and Paul Dini deserve every accolade in the book for Batman: The Animated Series, and Mark Hamill is untouchable as the Joker. So many great scenes, but I love this bit of absurdity for the way in which everything makes sense to the Joker if only you'd see it from his skewed POV.

Buy The Joker: A Visual History of the Clown Prince of Crime on Amazon.

Star Wars Art: Comics is Out Now

2011-10-07T16:44:00.001-05:00

Star Wars Art: Comics is a gorgeous art collection celebrating more than three decades of work from comics artists in the galaxy far, far away.

I did some work for this book, writing the artists' biographies with my fellow writer Jason Fry. But it's the artwork here that's the star.

One of the goals of the book was to recognize comic book art as worthy of the label of fine art. Here's an interview with Lucasfilm executive editor J. W. Rinzler, who talks about that theme and expands a bit on the project's genesis.

Keep an eye for this one in stores!

5 Things You Didn't Know About Darth Vader, From Darth Vader: A 3-D Reconstruction Log

2011-09-30T16:43:00.002-05:00

Star Wars: Darth Vader: A 3-D Reconstruction Log is out this week! This book takes readers through Vader's armor and life-support systems layer by layer, with each page revealing what's underneath.

It's very similar to last year's Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner's Guide, which makes sense since that book's art team of Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff also worked on Vader. I wrote the descriptions of Vader's equipment and the details of his reconstructive surgery. And all three of us did a ton of research to make this book what we hope is the best Darth Vader reference ever published.

I didn't want to make the book's text come across as too dry and technical, so I created the droid characters of 2-1B/DRX and DD-13/HK to record their observations about what they were doing to their patient. Many of their comments got dropped along the way, but you still get a sense in the final version that 2-1B/DRX is an unbearable snarkster (e.g. "I made the decision not to pursue cosmetic reconstructive surgery. It's not like anyone's ever going to see him with his mask off") who probably deserved to get crushed to pieces during Vader's "NOOOOOOOOO" Force-scream. I was inspired to make the medical droid a jerk thanks to the old Star Wars Insider column "Ask Too-Onebee," which was written back in the day by the very funny Scott Chernoff.

So you think you know your Vader? Here's 5 things in the book that you probably didn't know:

1) Vader's meditation chamber is called a Qabbrat. This is one of the all-new bits of info included in the book by my editor Ben Grossblatt. Ben, who has a couple degrees in linguistics (look for more of his input in next year's Book of Sith) used the Vader book to provide fitting labels for things that were previously unknown. Other bits by Ben include Imperial Emnat suits and Mustafarian ko-shol gas.

2) Vader has a secret compartment behind his belt buckle. It contains spare power cells and an emergency comlink, plus small tools which Vader can use to repair his suit systems in case of systems failure.

3) Vader can hear up to the 40kz range. That's nearly double the hearing range of a human, in case you're wondering. And -- according to a handy chart in the book -- Vader's augmented hearing falls between the range of a ronto (32 kz) and a pserem (85 kz). The airborne pserem creature was another original addition by Ben.

4) Vader eats, but it's not very appetizing. The automated systems of Vader's suit can supply nutrients intravenously, but if he wants to Vader can take in additional sustenance through feeding straws inside his mask. These dispense "RepMed vitapaste," which DD-13 implies is pretty awful. I don't know why Vader chose to confront Han and Leia inside a Bespin banquet room in The Empire Strikes Back considering he couldn't even snack on the awesome Cloud City catering.

5) Vader's suit has ten layers. Artists Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff went all-out in researching everything in this book, including things as specific as the composition of Vader's bodysuit. One of the layers is a sheath of orthofabric they included after studying NASA astronaut suits. Another layer is a sheath of "Reifflex cellular padding," which was originally featured in a set of obscure blueprints that came packaged with a Riddell mini-helmet (and which was named after Chris Reiff).

Darth Vader: A 3-D Reconstruction Log was produced by becker&mayer! and is being released by Scholastic. Here's an A+ review of the book from The Trades, and here's a really fun book trailer that Scholastic put together:

Look for it online and in bookstores now!

Photos from Star Wars Presentation at St. Petersburg College

2011-09-29T15:49:00.000-05:00

I had a great time in St. Petersburg last Friday, speaking about writing, shared universes, working with licensees, and why nobody has yet built a working lightsaber.

Thanks to St. Petersburg College for such a warm welcome and to everybody who participated and asked questions. Big thanks to James Kannaley, Bryan Shuerger, and Heather Oamer of the local 501st and Rebel Legion for adding their costuming flair.

Things couldn't have come together as smoothly as they did without Chad Mairn of St. Petersburg College who handed the logistics, and DK Publishing who provided buttons, keychains, posters, and other goodies for giveaway.

Thanks Florida, and hope to see you again soon at Celebration 6!

Photo: Melissa Lyttle, St. Petersburg Times

My Sept. 23 Event at St. Petersburg College in Florida

2011-09-19T12:55:00.000-05:00

This Friday, September 23 2011, I'll be appearing at St. Petersburg College to talk about Star Wars, superheroes, and the business of writing.

Here's a flyer with details. We'll be giving away promo items courtesy of DK Publishing, and I'll bring along other goodies as prizes during Q&A.

It's happening at the St. Petersburg College Music Center, and things kick off at 11am.

The SPC Blue and White ran a story about the event here. I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm glad to be returning to Florida after last year's Celebration 5. If you're in the Tampa/St. Pete area I hope to see you there!

Starwars.com: Relaunched Databank/Encyclopedia

2011-09-14T23:32:00.001-05:00

Starwars.com just launched its new look. It's a lot more visual and a lot less busy.

As part of the redesign the site completely revamped its online info repository, which was formerly known as the Databank. It's now called the Encyclopedia, and like everything else under the new look it's primarily driven by visuals such as movie clips and photos. To get at the text bio for an encyclopedia entry you need to drill down to "Video/Images," then "Slideshows," then advance through the slideshow frame by frame.

I wrote some of the entries for the new Encyclopedia, including the Han Solo entry that's currently being spotlighted. Fans will notice that these entries focus on the movies and the Clone Wars TV series exclusively and skip over the contributions of the Expanded Universe. But there's a prominent link to Wookieepedia at the front of every entry. Because in truth an active fan wiki is always going to stay more current and have a deeper knowledge base.

Check out the revamped Encyclopedia at the link!

Star Wars: The Jedi Path Trade Edition On Sale Today

2011-09-06T22:30:00.000-05:00

The trade edition of Star Wars: The Jedi Path officially hits bookstores and online retailers today. Appearing approximately one year after the debut of the bells-and-whistles vault edition, this new trade edition from Chronicle focuses on the book itself.

Over the past year I heard from lots of fans who wanted to read the book but couldn't afford the higher price tag, and also from book purists who didn't see the need to collect the starfighter patch, Padawan braid, metal coin, and other souvenirs included in the vault edition. The trade edition of The Jedi Path is intended for those readers, presenting all the book's content at a much lower price. (It's listed for U.S. $19.95 but currently available on Amazon at a discounted $12.87.)

For the unfamiliar, The Jedi Path is an "in universe" textbook that survived Order 66 and the burning of the Jedi Temple. The text is written by the Order's greatest Jedi Masters, who discuss everything from lightsaber combat to how to pass the Jedi Trials. This particular copy was previously owned by Count Dooku, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano before Emperor Palpatine seized it, and eventually it wound up in the hands of Luke Skywalker. All of the previous owners (plus a couple more) left personal commentary via graffiti scrawls in the book's margins.

While the removable souvenirs aren't included in the trade edition, we did include content wherever we could. For example, Luke's introductory letter (originally a separate sheet of paper) is now printed as part of the book's front material:

Also, the "missing" Prophecy of the Chosen One (originally represented in the book by torn-out pages) has been done in the trade edition as CIA-style blacked-out text:

Here's a review of The Jedi Path trade edition by the UK's Blogomatic 3000, and you can view sample pages from the book on Chronicle's site.

Finally, I love these German and French translations (there's a Spanish one too but I haven't tracked it down yet). The Force is a universal language!

My Schedule for San Diego Comic-Con 2011

2011-07-21T11:17:00.001-05:00

This weekend is ComicCon, the biggest sci-fi and genre convention in the U.S. It's in full swing as of today, and I'm flying out tomorrow morning for a couple appearances. Big thanks to DK Publishing for their help!

Saturday, July 23

10:00am-11:00pm
Book signing at the DK Publishing booth, #2913G. I'll be signing copies of Star Wars: Battles for the Galaxy, Star Wars Year by Year, and DC Comics Year by Year. See DK's full schedule here!

1:30pm-2:30pm
Book signing at the Chronicle Books booth, #1506. I'll be signing copies of the trade edition of The Jedi Path-- this is the new, book-only version of The Jedi Path minus the vault and souvenirs, and will be available for the first time at Comic-Con! See Chronicle's full schedule here!

In addition, becker&mayer! will be at Comic-Con, and as revealed this morning by Club Jade, has announced the Book of Sith for a 2012 release.

See you there!

30 Days of Creativity With The Lost Patrol

2011-07-04T22:55:00.001-05:00

30 Days of Creativity wrapped up on June 30th. Now in its second year, 30 Days of Creativity is an initiative for kickstarting creative projects by giving its participants a daily deadline and peer support.

I helped launch 30 Days of Creativity in 2010, and was happy to see how much the initiative has expanded this year with hundreds of new participants. Stumped for ideas on my own project, I finally committed to a concept on May 31 with The Lost Patrol, a fictional photo chronicle of an expedition to a mysterious island.

(Due to the nature of Tumblr, the story -- which was posted in daily chunks -- appears in reverse order.)

I made up the narrative as it went along and usually took the accompanying photo on the same day. I used Dollar Store toys as props, and altered some of the photos with free tools like tiltshiftmaker.com and GIMP. I also found a free Tumblr template to make the site look old-timey.

Stories I shamelessly raided for inspiration included King Kong, LOST, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, HP Lovecraft, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Paul Chadwick's The World Below.

It was a fun project, and I'm convinced that the deadlines and peer pressure provided by something like 30 Days of Creativity can force out some surprising and entertaining results. Take a look at the gallery on the official site and you'll see examples of creativity by way of origami, food, infographics, jewelry, music, and machinima.

Follow @createstuff on Twitter to get the news on their next creativity project!

My Schedule for Minneapolis CONvergence 2011

2011-06-27T15:57:00.000-05:00

Here's my schedule for CONvergence, Minneapolis' premiere sci-fi convention, which kicks off this Thursday.

The 2011 CONvergence, held at the Sheraton Bloomington, will run from Thursday June 30 through Sunday July 3. This year's theme is "Tomorrow Through the Past."

I'm going to be appearing on these panels, so please say hi if you're in the neighborhood!

Interacting Maps with Literature
Thursday 3:30-4:30pm
Venue: Bloomington
Mapping your literary worlds. Working with the world as we know it or creating something new. How important is it?
Panelists: Kelly McCullough, Daniel Wallace, Bob Alberti, Marguerite Krause, Matt Kuchta

The Silver Age: Was It Really Better?
Friday 11:00-12:00
Venue: Atrium 2
Many a nostalgic comic fan insists that the Silver Age produced some of the best comics in the history of the medium...and many a modern fan insists that older fans view their favorite era through rose-colored glasses. Our panel tries to hash things out.
Panelists: Bill Stiteler, Daniel Wallace, Christopher Jones, Jim Kakalios, John Seavey

Batman Isn't Depressed Enough!
Friday 8:30-9:30pm
Venue: Atrium 2
Super Heroes used to just be the good guys. Now they are alcoholics, narcissists and depressed. Just like the rest of us. Looking at the trend of making our heroes darker. When do they stop being heroes?
Panelists: Daniel Wallace, Jonathan Palmer, Christopher Jones, Phillip Andrew Bennett Low, Greg Weisman

Do Superheroes Need Therapy?
Saturday 11:00-12:00
Venue: Atrium 2
Let's face it, Bruce Wayne would not be Batman if someone had sent him to therapy when he was a kid. Would Superman be the man of steel if he wasn't dealing with parental rejection issues? Super Heorism as a means of dodging what's really bugging you.
Panelists: Daniel Wallace, Jonathan Palmer, Sherry L.M. Merriam, Daren Johnson, Kevin Horner

The Green Lantern Movie
Saturday 2:00-3:00
Venue: Plaza 1
Admit it, you had no faith that Ryan Reynolds would make a good Green Lantern. Maybe you were right. We don't know. This book was at the printer before the movie came out. Guest Anthony Tollin colored the book for years. What do he (and others) think?
Panelists: Romeo Azar, Anthony Tollin, Daniel Wallace

The Mega Panel
Saturday 7:00-9:00pm
Venue: Edina
Your double length masquerade alternative returns. We'll talk about anything and everything until we get kicked out of the room.
Panelists: Romeo Azar, Jeremy Stomberg, C. Robert Cargill, Daniel Wallace

Hope to see you there!

Photos from Star Wars Presentation at Hernando, MS Public Library

2011-05-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

Southern hospitality is no myth! On May 5, 2011, the public library of Hernando, Mississippi invited me to help celebrate reading and all things Star Wars.

More than 200 of you attended, with lots of kids and multi-generational fan families. I gave away copies of my books to kids who answered trivia questions, and their enthusiasm always leaves me in awe of just how eternal the Star Wars phenomenon has become. It's the Highlander of pop-culture franchises. (And that's a recursive metaphor.)

We also gave away buttons and stickers from DK, shirts from Her Universe, and Mimobot flash drives. We sold several stacks of my new DK book Star Wars: Battles for the Galaxy courtesy of staff from the local Books-A-Million. Big thanks to DK and to Heather Lawson of Hernando's First Regional Library!

Thanks also to the Memphis FanForce, local representatives of the 501st Legion, who escorted me in (accompanied by a young clone trooper) and stayed to pose for photos. I received a plaque -- featuring the Memphis FanForce icon of Vader Elvis and their slogan "Suspicious Mind Tricks" -- and had a great dinner with Lin, Nicki, Rhonda, Tim, Traci, and Carlin.

Thanks again all! I'm back in Minneapolis, but sending love (and hopefully no more water) down the Mississippi.

May 5 Star Wars Event at the Hernando, MS Public Library

2011-05-02T16:27:00.001-05:00

This Thursday, May 5 2011, I'll be appearing at the Hernando Public Library to ring in Star Wars Day with local members of the 501st Legion.

True, this is one day after the titular "May the Fourth," but Thursday is looking like a good day and I'm happy to be returning to the greater Memphis area after a library appearance there back in 2007.

Hernando is just south of Memphis in northern Mississippi, and members of the Memphis FanForce will be appearing in costume. We'll also be selling copies of the newly-published Battles for the Galaxy and doing some signings, giveaways, and Q&A. It's happening at the First Regional library in Hernando and things kick off at 6:30 pm.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal just ran a story about the event, and the promotional flyer that the library put together is embedded above. If you live in the area I hope to see you Thursday!

Questionable Journalism: Curious George Edition

2011-04-28T17:37:00.000-05:00

...or, H.A. Rey never went to j-school.

Here's an illustration from the unquestionably awesome Curious George Takes a Job, published in 1947. Yes, this is the book in which Curious George gets high on ether. But I found myself fascinated by the newsstand headlines, and what they tell us about the five dailies that cover the city where George lives.

Five papers seems like a lot, but it is 1947. And, based on context from other books, it's implied that George lives in New York City.

But this is definitely an alternate NYC, one set on Earth-George. On Earth-George (in 1957's Curious George Gets a Medal), white-coated scientists send a monkey into outer space inside a capsule they apparently launched from their backyard. Journalism standards are similarly lax on Earth-George.

Here's what happens: George paints somebody's apartment without permission, jumps off a fire escape to ditch his pursuers, and breaks his leg when he hits the ground. This is, of course, headline news on all five newspapers the next day, most likely pushing the President signing the Truman Doctrine onto page A2. Each newspaper takes a different approach.

Of the first two, I'll allow that MONKEY HURT IN FALL is a better headline than MONKEY GOES TO HOSPITAL. The accident on the fire escape is the interesting & sellable part of this non-story. What happened in the aftermath (except for the ether!) is a yawner.

But even better is one newspaper's decision to print MONKEY JUMPS in 96-point type. That's the stuff! Hook 'em with an action verb, and leave the outcome unclear! This paper was probably the New York Post.

But wait, which newspaper is the Man With the Yellow Hat actually buying? Sadly, this one bears the dry and overlong headline MONKEY TAKEN TO HOSPITAL WITH BROKEN LEG. I think this is all the proof we need that the Man With the Yellow Hat is a New York Times reader. Here is visual evidence of his drawing-room pipe-smokery (the props are all Yellow Hat; George is just appropriating them).

Finally, one newpaper completely loses the plot with MONKEY PAINTS ROOM. Really? That's the angle your editor determined would sell the most newsstand copies? Hey, memo to paper #5: If it bleeds, it leads.

Star Wars: Battles for the Galaxy Now Available Stateside

2011-04-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

Star Wars: Battles for the Galaxy is out this week in the U.S.! (It's been available around a month already for the Brits.) Yoda knows that wars don't make one great, but when it comes to the galaxy far, far away they can be kind of awesome.

I wrote the text for this 96-page hardcover from DK, which is packed with photos and exhibits the careful visual design for which DK is famous. The book is aimed at young readers aged 7 and up, but older fans might enjoy it too. If you're curious, you can take a peek inside the book at DK's UK page for Battles for the Galaxy, which lets you tour four interior spreads and read some of the content covering the Gungan Army and the Sith Lords. But the book isn't prequels-only: there's plenty of content covering the Empire and the Rebellion, from the blitzkrieg that was the Battle of Hoth to the guerrilla tactics of the Ewoks.

The official site has a preview of Battles for the Galaxy at this link, and Beau Ryan of RadNerd (who moderated the Star Wars DK Books panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2010) just posted this video review (the Battles for the Galaxy coverage is at the 2:30 mark):

As the book's recruitment-style cover proclaims, "Fight for victory! Become a hero!"

Yuri Gagarin 50th Anniversary and Google's Soviet Iconography

2011-04-12T15:27:00.001-05:00

I loved the Google Doodle on google.com today, honoring the 50th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's achievement as the first human in space:

Not only is this an occasion worth remembering, but Google has composed the image using design elements from the distinctive Soviet propaganda used during WWII and the Cold War, which I've always found to be irresistibly striking. Exhibit A:

The Soviet government produced plenty of similar posters to honor the achievements of their cosmonauts during the Space Race, many of which can be found at this link. Here are three of my faves:

Now, as the U.S. space shuttle program is winding down with no serious plan for manned spaceflight to follow, it's worth reflecting on the amazing things that happened half a century ago. Remember this milestone and have a Happy Yuri's Night!

From the New York Times: Broadway Composer Bobby Lopez Loves The Jedi Path

2011-03-18T14:58:00.001-05:00

Great article today in the New York Times about The Jedi Path and Broadway composer Bobby Lopez, who is a fan of the book.

Read the article, "Jedi Weapons Sold Separately," on the NYT site here. What's great about this piece is not only does it provide a fun celebrity fan profile in Bobby Lopez, but it also touches on the relevant issue that books -- that is, the physical, printed kind -- are gradually becoming more and more like collectibles in the post-Kindle age.

I'm a fan of Bobby Lopez. He wrote the music and lyrics for the hilarious and profane puppet musical Avenue Q, and currently has a new show opening, The Book of Mormon, a satirical musical about Mormonism and organized religion co-developed with Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame.

I was really happy to see this article and wanted to share it. If nothing else, read it for this money quote: "Sorry, Mr. Jobs, but unboxing the iPad is not nearly as awesome."

Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Update - New Mid-Rim Map

2011-03-16T11:28:00.001-05:00

Star Wars: The Essential Atlas came out in 2009, but we're continuing to update it with bonus online content. The latest is a very cool map of the sectors of the Mid Rim, drawn by Modi.

You can check out the new content at "Essential Atlas Extra: Sectors of the Mid Rim" on starwars.com. In addition, Jason and I have updated the online appendix with many all-new star systems and lots of corrected/updated placements.

The Star Wars: The Essential Atlas online appendix is a pdf document which is meant to supplement the printed appendix in the actual book. It's our way of ensuring that the Atlas is a "living document" and that it never really goes out of date.

My co-author Jason Fry has always been diligent about cross-checking the content and is responsible for the vast majority of the tweaks in this update, but we've also had great input from Dante Griffith and other fans who have pointed out things we've missed.

New systems:

Adana, Adras, Alphoresis, Annamar, Aquilaris Minor, Aridinia, Ashterri's Cloud, Asuin, Atoa, Bizikia, Blaudu Sextus, Bontormia, Bravis, Caulus Tertius, Cavamina, Chelloa, Cilare, Cirtappa, Cosia, Crelythiumn, D'Nile, Dibrook, Fiviune, Garr'lst, Gazzari, Gorobei, Greeve, Grehollo, Gultanna, Hakara, Heterkus, Hidden Tegoor, Iphar, Javarica, Kamasto, Kant, Katalla, Khramboa, Latza, Letaki, Lola Sayu, Maarka, Maldovea, Malpassia, Manakron, Manoe, Marfa, Miko, Mooga, Murakam, Nakrikal Singularity, New Brampis, Nyemari, Odacer-Faustin, Onderia, Opitha Tren, Otavon, Phatrong, Plunder Moon, Qi Lozar, Quesh, Regulan, Samhar, Savek, Sebbadon, Secundus Ando, Sha'rellia, Shotem, Sixela, Slotern, Stewjon, Tanta Aurek, Tanta Besh, Tartaria, Tedonia, Tergamenion, Terrelia, Thory Prime, Thulia, Udrin Cara, Valsedian, Vartos, Vellas Pavo, Ventruun, Verig, Vo Tunbren, Winnagew, and Xandonia.

Updated systems:

Aargonar, Abaarian, Abbaji, Aida, Aikhibba, Alagon, Alakatha, Alassa Major, Alderath, Alderbathe, Aldin, Almak, Alsakan, Alui, Amorphiia, Anga, Angeria, Anic, Ankus, Annaj, Ansarra, Ansek, Anzat, Aplooine, Ardru, Ariarch-17, Aridka, Arthon, Ast Kikorie, Auril, Azure, Balis-Baurgh, Balowa, Baltizaar, Bandomeer, Bannistar Station, Barcaria, Bars Barka, Bastooine, Baylin Cluster, Beauchen, Bedlam Pulsar, Belshar Othacuu, Belvaria, Benja-Rihn, Berason, Beris, Biravia, Blathar, Blood Nest, Bomodon, Boranall, Boranda, Bortele Cluster, Bresnia, Bryx, Bseto, Burska, Byllura, Byrsym, Cadannia, Caramm, Carbos, Carnth, Casfield, Cataalda, Cerea, Ceti 597, Ch'manss, Chalcedon, Cheelit, Chokan, Chroma Zed, Chryya, Cificap, Cimarosa, Codia, Cols, Contruum, Copperline, Corbett Cluster, Corbos, Cornesia, Corthenia, Corweillia, Crintlia, Cron Drift, Cygnus, D'faria, Daalang, Dagro, Daimar, Dakaret, Dalonia, Dalron, Daminia, Danalbeth, Darie, Darkon, Darlon, Deersheba, Delphania, Demnadi, Deneba, Denebrilla, Dennaskar, Denon, Denubba, Devros, Deylerax, Diado, Din Nebula, Din Pulsar, Diorda, Dithanune, Dlor, Doaskin, Dohlban, Dohnia, Dohu, Doldrums, Dononter Minor, Dor Nameth, Dorajan, Dractu, Draik, Dressel, Duron, Echnos, Eedoq, Eeyyon, Eiattu, Eidoloni, Elbara, Elriss, Enarc, Endor, Endor Gate, Endovan, Enferm, Eres, Eriscot, Euceron, Evas, Fait d'Fait, Farquar, Farseen, Farstine, Farwell Station, Fendry, Ferijia (was Ferjia), Feris, Firrerre, Fodurant, Forntay, Fradian, Freda, Frithia, Fusai, Galboron, Gallion, Gammalin, Gansett, Ganzik, Garcornia, Garos, Gascon, Gavryn, Gazzari Minor (was Gazzari), Geal, Gendius, Gerinia, Geris, Gerres Gule, Geska Prime, Gestron, Ggy-ynt, Ghishi, Gilatter, Glee Anselm, Gosfambling, Graador, Grakouine, Grimwald, Gultanna, Gwar, Habassa, Hallitron, Halm, Haluria, Hapuntep, Har Binade, Harpori, Haruun Kal, Haseria, Hathrox, Haurgab, Herdessa, Hewl, Hirsi, Hitaka, Holess, Homana, Horos, Houche, Hoylin, Hurd's Moon, Hypotria, Iast, Ichtor, Ilimardon, Ingo, Iridia, Iska, Iskalon, Iskin, Italbos, Ixtlar, Jabor, Jaloria, Jante, Japai, Jendiria, Jeyell, Jiann, Jidlor, Jmin, Jolia, Joralla, Jutrand, Kabray, Kaelinn, Kalaan, Kaliida Nebula, Kaliida Shoals, Kalkovak, Katanos, Katarr, Kaump, Keitum, Kem Stor Ai, Kholes, Khorm, Killaniri, Killisu, Kishpaugh, Kiva, Klaymor, Koba, Kolos, Kordu, Korvaii, Kostra, Kreeling, Kril'Dor, Kriselist, Krnay, Kromus, Krykas, Ksiczzic, Kuna's Eye, Kuna's Fist, Kuna's Horn, Kuna's Tail, Kuna's Tooth, Kwannot, Kyrska, Lahsbane, Lannik, Lanos, Lanthe, Leresen, Likasha, Linuri, Lisal, Lofquar, Loken, Lomabu, Londor, Lopor Station, Loposi, Lorahns, Lorista, Lorta, Low'n, Luuq, Mackar, Maerdocia, Maltorian, Manda, Maro Della, Marzoon, Masgen, Masposhani, Masterra, Mauk, Maya Kovel, Medepiest, Medth, Meedis Minor, Mektrun Cluster, Mendacia, Mengjini, Meruud, Mes Cavoli, Meshakia, Metalorn, Mhatma, Mis-Tenek, Miztoc, Moer, Mon Torri, Monastery, Monsua Nebula, Morado, Mordis, Moro, Msst, Muntuur, Murk, Myomar, Naalol, Nanth'ri, Narrant, Nath Goordi, Nativum, Nauton, Necr'ygor, Nelvana Gas Cluster, Nerrif, New Holstice, Nexus Ortai, Nibiru, Nicandra, Nilash, Nilg, Nilgaria, Ninzam, Nirellia, Nixor, No-ad, Nooli, Nopsin, Notak, Nuala, Null, Nuralee, Nuvar, Nyarikan Nebula, Nymalia, Nyriaan, Obica, Octavia, Ogden Minor, Old Mankoo, Ookbat, Ooo-sek, Opari, Opatajji, Opiteihr, Oranessan, Ord Dorlass, Ord Dycoll, Ord Namurt, Ord Segra, Ord Tiddell, Ord Varee, Ord Wylan, Oriolanis, Orkellia, Orleon, Orocco, Osskorn, Ovise, Paradise Station, PDC3141-02, Peluchia, Pendal, Peregrine's Nest, Peridon's Folly, Petabys Station, Phaegon, Phibia, Phr'sha, Porchello, Pothor, Primtara, Pugal, Pyjridj, Qeimet (was Qeimat), Qina, Quadrant Seven, Quaensan Prime, Quamar, Quilan, Randor, Ragna, Raquish, Rathalay, Regulgo, Remmon Nebula, Resilon, Retep, Rettna, Riflor, Roche, Rodis, Rokaria, Romin, Rustibar, Ryndellia, Ryyk Nebula, Sabrash, Santheria, Sanyassa, Sarka, Sayblohn, Sedesia, Seltos, Semag, Serenity, Sev Tok, Shador, Shalm, Sif'kric, Silvestri (was Sivestri), Sinded, Sinton, Skorrupon, Skuumaa, Somov Rit, Sorotarr, Space Station Trenchant, Starlyte Station, Surcaris, T'olan, Tabiid, Talay, Talcene, Talesia, Tantajo, Tao-Grant, Tarchalia, Taronda, Tartaglia, Tascollan Nebula (was Tascollen), Tashtor Seneca, Tay'ah'loo, Tendo, Thairwsthis, Thaldo, Thape, Tharados, Theal, Thennqor, Therenor, Thodia, Thokosia, Thonner, Threfal, Thrynka, Tibrin, Tirac Munda, Tomark, Torrad, Toskhowwl, Tourani, Tramanos, Trasse, Traval-Pecor, Triffis, Trindello, Turak, Tyan, Tyria, Tyus Cluster, Uba, Ubertica, Ultaar, Umgul, Upell, UR-1060, UR-2650, UR-3741, UR-8827, UR-9353, Uridia, Ursellin, Urun, Va'art, Vaced, Varvva, Vasha, Vectinia, Velmor, Velossia, Venaari, Vendusii, Vensor, Ventran, Veron Minor, Verossia, Vessitoar, Vex, Vidicx, Viidaav, Vishay, Vogel, Vondarc, Voniss, Vorkaa, Vretha, Vulta, VV-99-7JE-2N71, Wen'he'dinae, Werta, Whinndor, Wyveral, Xal, Xanas, Xoemefel, Xorao, Yagara, Yankirk, Yartiga, Yde, Yeshocq, Yout, Zchtek, Zelos, Zeolosia, Ziost, Zorbia, Zuliria, and Zygia.

Contact us at essential.atlas@gmail.com if you see an oversight! As always, you can bookmark starwars.com/atlas to have a direct link to all the Atlas online extras that have appeared so far and the ones we'll be putting up in the future.

The Jedi Path: New, Cheaper Trade Edition Coming in September 2011

2011-03-07T12:22:00.006-06:00

From starwars.com comes the news that The Jedi Path will be made available in book-only form -- for everyone who didn't need all the goodies included in the vault edition, or who simply didn't want to pay the higher price!

The trade edition of The Jedi Path will be published by Chronicle in September 2011. Because this book will exist as a standalone item without any of the packaging that came with the vault edition, it will feel a bit less like an actual artifact. But in the spirit of the original we tried to preserve as much of the overall feel as possible.

The cover now has a Star Wars logo, and of course all the loose items that came inside the mechanized vault -- like the coin, starfighter patch, napkin, and Padawan braid -- aren't here.

But all the book's written text is intact, and we fixed some typos that appeared the first time around. Also, because the introductory letter written by Luke Skywalker contained some important info, that has now become one of the book's pages instead of a loose item.

One of the fun things from the vault edition were the ripped-out pages that supposedly explained the Prophecy of the Chosen One. Becker&mayer couldn't reproduce that effect in the trade edition while still keeping the price low, so instead the text on those pages will be distorted/redacted and Luke's little note about finding the book in this condition will be printed directly on the page itself.

The Jedi Path: Vault Edition is still available, and it looks like Amazon U.S. currently has it listed for about 33% off with free shipping. But if you're more of a reader than a collector, the trade edition might be more up your alley. Keep an eye out for it this fall!

UPDATE:
According to the Amazon listing for the trade edition of The Jedi Path, the book will retail for $19.95 U.S.

The 3 Most Brain-Meltingly Terrifying Dr. Seuss Characters

2010-12-28T22:12:00.003-06:00

I've been reading Dr. Seuss books to my daughter, and after encountering a series of increasingly disturbing monsters I was finally like, "Dude, what the hell."

I couldn't be a bigger fan of Seuss. Try this experiment: read a hundred kids' books -- especially "rhyming" kids' books -- and then read a single Seuss book. It's like diving into a pool of cool water after crawling across a scorching desert. Seuss understood how to use language, and understood that it's about a lot more than just rhyming. It's also about rhythm (he was fond of anapestic tetrameter), and timing, and wordplay. Seuss books are a pleasure to read. He's one of very few people who seem to have a natural gift for rhythm and clever wordplay, a list that I'd argue also includes Cole Porter, Howard Ashman, and Eminem.

But of course Seuss was also a great artist, and in all his books he comes up with amazingly weird biospheres, gravity-defying architecture, and fanciful creatures.

And sometimes, TERRIFYING creatures. These three are just... I can't even...

3) Clark, from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (1960).

It's partly because it's some sort of water monster for which the kids needed to fashion a glass bottle filled with liquid. It's partly because they found it, creepily, "in the park, in the dark." It's partly because of the ominous promise that it will grow and grow. It's partly because Clark is such an innocuous name. It all adds up to something that makes me want to whisper to the kids, "Fly! Fly, you fools!"

2) The Pale Green Pants, from The Sneetches and Other Stories (1961).

Some of the most disturbing things are things that shouldn't be disturbing at all, like clowns. Two little girls wearing pretty dresses sound like the absolute least horrifying thing that could ever exist, and then you see this and wet your pants. The Pale Green Pants are just an awful, awful thing, despite the moral of the story (see, the pants are just as afraid of you as you are of them. Yeah, as if).

1) Foo-Foo the Snoo, from I Can Read With My Eyes Shut (1978).

Look, even the Cat in the Hat Jr. is all like, "whaaaaaaa?"

Look at this thing! It's horrible! Not only is it wearing some sort of patterned gimp suit, but it seems to be intentionally modeled after the Satanic deity Baphomet. I mean, Jake the Pillow Snake is kind of cute, but why? Why this thing?

Look at Foo-Foo the Snoo!

LOOK AT FOO-FOO THE SNOO!

Conan O'Brien Reads Aloud From the DC Comics Encyclopedia

2010-12-10T18:13:00.000-06:00

During last night's show, Conan O'Brien visited the Warner Brothers Animation studio and discussed some of the lamer superheroes in the DC universe. To do this, he selected heroes out of the DC Comics Encyclopedia, which I co-wrote!

Even cooler, he picked Western hero Bat Lash, one of mine! Watch the video to see Conan read my lines describing Bat Lash as a "smooth talking ladies man, a cowboy dandy with a flower in his hat." And watch him lose it toward the end of the entry, which descends into DC nerdiness by introducing Biff Bradley and the Enemy Ace on a quest to retrieve magic swords.

Conan also brilliantly deconstructs Ultra the Multi-Alien, Captain Boomerang, and Space Ranger!

Also, Bruce Timm!

Endnotes for Star Wars: The Jedi Path (part 4 of 4)

2010-12-10T13:59:00.000-06:00

The Jedi Path is one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever worked on. It has a fun in-universe premise, knockout packaging, and superb art and design. Here's a roundup of my page-by-page thoughts and recollections from writing the book, posted in 4 parts.

JEDI KNIGHT AND JEDI MASTER

p. 112: As we come to the end of the book, the Jedi Knight and Jedi Master sections get compressed into a little bit less detail than we've seen for the Initiate and Padawan sections. This was intentional, since this was intended to be an in-universe textbook for younger Jedi. The assumption being that they need to know what to expect when they eventually move on to the ranks of Knight and Master, but that once they actually graduate to those ranks they'll have more substantial textbooks.

Or no textbooks at all, in fact. Once a Jedi reaches the rank of Knight, he or she is basically a free agent. Jedi Knights still need to do the Council's bidding, but beyond that they have relatively free reign concerning how they go about their business. For a new Jedi Knight I'd imagine this would be both liberating and frightening. They have been guided every hour of every day, first by the Temple instructors and then by their Masters, and now they find themselves alone. I would bet that many new Knights seek out Padawan apprentices almost immediately, in order to recreate the kind of partner bond that they've grown used to over the years.

p. 114: The following sections categorize the Jedi into the sub-classifications of Guardians, Consulars, and Sentinels. These labels come mostly from RPG and video gaming lore, as do the respective colors of the lightsaber blades: blue, green, and yellow. I actually like this classification system quite a bit since it allows different personality types to gravitate toward appropriate professions. Fans who have played a lot of RPGs or logged some time in Azeroth will recognize Guardians, Consulars, and Sentinels as (roughly) Warriors, Healers, and Rogues.

p. 116: In the margins you'll see a comment by Anakin where he talks about Jurokk, the Gatekeeper of the Jedi Temple. Poor Jurokk. In the Revenge of the Sith console game, Jurokk is the first Jedi killed by Anakin once he becomes Darth Vader.

p. 117: A new starfighter is revealed here. The Savage Star is said to have replaced the Kuat Redshift circa 990 BBY.

REMOVABLE: Here's a starfighter patch issued to members of the Jedi starfighter corps (the Jedi Aces). It says "STAR FIGHTER" in Aurebesh. Because I didn't think that any of the book's owners would necessarily have been official members of the Jedi starfighter corps, I used the backstory that Anakin received the patch from an admiring old Jedi veteran after Anakin destroyed the Droid Control Ship in The Phantom Menace.

p. 119: This list of exotic weapons was fun -- why should every Jedi use a lightsaber? The Force-strengthened quarterstaff first appeared in the Dark Lords of the Sith comics. The standard whip would probably be carried by members of the Academy of Jedi Archaeology (now click here). The flail is a new addition to the Jedi arsenal as far as I know; I based it on the Japanese kusarigama. Ranged weapons such as blaster rifles are also considered exotic, since the Jedi prefer to wield weapons that are extensions of their own bodies.

p. 124: Hespecia Tik'kla is a new character. She is an ancient Caamasi philosopher credited with inspiring the embryonic Jedi Order to pursue justice.

p. 126: Jedi Sentinels are pragmatists. They also work closely with the "common people" and aren't fond of ceremony or rules. Sentinels basically just want to get the job done. On the Jedi alignment chart Sentinels would be Neutral Good or sometimes even Chaotic Good, as opposed to the Lawful Good of most Jedi Consulars and Guardians.

p. 129: Levitating the Muntuur stones is a Force accomplishment that first appeared in 1993'sGalaxy Guide 8: Scouts. When the final art for this page came in, I noticed that the stones in the picture were too small to be the true Muntuur stones, so I changed the caption to specify that these were replicas.

p. 131: The Advanced Force Techniques in this section come from a variety of sources. Battle Meditation is from the Tales of the Jedi comics. Combustion is something I invented for The New Essential Guide to Characters, speculating that Jedi Master Yarael Poof had the ability to start fires by increasing molecular friction. Art of the Small is something from the New Jedi Order novels, but I erred by listing it here and then establishing that Luke Skywalker obtained this book prior to the NJO events (basically, he shouldn't have been surprised by the use of Art of the Small in NJO if he'd already read about it in this book). The powers of Doppelganger and Force Storm are both from the Dark Empire comics.

p. 134: Here's a list of Forbidden Force Techniques -- in other words, Sith powers. Force Insanity comes from the Knights of the Old Republic games. Deadly Sight first appeared in the game Jedi Knight. Morichro is a Force power I created for the cancelled Essential Guide to Episode I which later appeared on starwars.com and other sources (because it involved slowing down the body's functions to the point of death I called it "mortichro" as a combination of mort [death] + chron [time], but the typo "morichro" is what stuck). Emerald Lightning is from the game Jedi Power Battles; because it was used by good-guy Plo Koon in that game I tried to establish it as a morally-questionable light-side form of Force lightning in, again, the cancelled Essential Guide to Episode I.

p. 137: Who knew Yoda was so fond of kybucks? He's first seen riding one in the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars animated shorts and this line establishes that he has owned no fewer than 33. Now Yoda is centuries old, and perhaps kybucks don't live that long. But after 33 kybucks, Yoda strikes me as that person you know whose family always buys an Irish setter.

p. 138: The diagram for trakata on this page isn't as clear as I'd like. Basically this technique is used when one Jedi locks blades with another -- one of them then quickly switches their saber off and then back on again, enabling the blade to skip "through" the opponent's block.

p. 139: There's a typo on this page: "the acrobatics of Form VI" should instead be Form IV.

p. 141: Enlisting New Members. In this section I tried to be as sympathetic to the Jedi as possible. If you get into their heads you can understand the intellectual argument for taking babies away from their families with no opportunity for the parents or children to see each other again. Here's a few of their reasons:

The Force is strong with these children, and if they aren't trained they will be a danger to themselves and others (including their parents).
The Force has CHOSEN these children. To ignore the opportunity to train them would be an act of defiance against the will of the Force.
Emotional commitments can lead to selfishness and favoritism. Jedi should aspire to serve all citizens of the galaxy equally.
Many families would be acculturated to the idea that having a Force-strong child is a great honor. On many planets I can imagine neighborhood block parties being thrown to welcome the Jedi Master who has arrived to claim the child.

With these points in mind, the position of the Jedi is internally consistent and makes some sense. However, it's quite obvious that many parents would take a dim view of this practice. Or that families who were initially very proud to send their children off to the Temple might later have second thoughts. The following section, Misperceptions of the Jedi, presents the accepted counter-arguments to public accusations like "the Jedi are baby stealers" and "the Jedi are brainwashers." Who's right? Obi-Wan, who spent his entire life in the Temple, is convinced that many truths depend on your point of view.

REMOVABLE: This coin is one of my favorite removables, but it is also the easiest one to lose in a couch. Don't say I didn't warn you! This is a Jedi Credit, a coin minted to mark the ascension of a Corellian Jedi Padawan to the rank of Knight. This bit of backstory first appeared in the novel X-Wing: Rogue Squadron. Originally the becker&mayer production team wanted to have a Jedi face on one side of the coin but by all accounts it didn't reproduce very well. By assigning this coin as Thame Cerulian's souvenir, I indirectly established Thame Cerulian as a Corellian.

p. 144: The Sith Code here is missing a line (line 3, strength & power). My mistake. The full text of the Code should read:

Peace is a lie, there is only passion

Through passion I gain strength

Through strength I gain power

Through power I gain victory

Through victory my chains are broken

The Force shall free me.

p. 149: These dark side organizations come from a variety of sources. The Sorcerers of Tund first appeared in the Lando Calrissian Adventures novels. The Mecrosa Order originates in the West End Games roleplaying boxed set Lords of the Expanse. The Bladeborn are mentioned in Knights of the Old Republic in the context of the Sith Tremor Sword, a weapon your player can acquire. The Black Knights are referenced in the online article "Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties" by Abel Pena.

p. 150: The section detailing Treats to Jedi Teachings leans heavily on "relativists" who see things in shades of gray. The Jedi of the Temple are largely an orthodoxy that doesn't tolerate dissent -- remember the Temple librarian. At the same time, Jedi like Qui-Gon say things like "your focus determines your reality" and Qui-Gon's pupil Obi-Wan believes that truth depends on a "certain point of view." I view this as evidence of an underlying philosophical debate within the order. The writers of a textbook would naturally want to present their side of the debate in the best light.

In Attack of the Clones we learn of the Lost Twenty, a list of Jedi who have voluntarily left the Order. Obviously this group wouldn't be called the Lost Twenty until Count Dooku became #20, so I just used the term "The Lost."

p. 152: This list of other Force-using organizations is compiled mostly from West End Games and Wizards of the Coast roleplaying books. This makes sense, since players who want to toss stormtroopers around with their minds but are running a classic trilogy adventure in which the Jedi are extinct will want some alternatives. The Aing-Tii Monks come from the RPG boxed set The DarkStryder Campaign (and later, the novel Vision of the Future). The Baran Do Sages first appeared in the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook. The Luka Sene, a sect of the Miraluka, are from the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide. The Matukai first appeared in the Hero's Guide. The Kashi Guardians of Breath come from the Tales of the Jedi Companion.

p. 154: This section discusses the act of Taking on a Padawan Learner, which prompts the annotators to go off on each other's graffiti comments. Thame Cerulian starts off with a hopeful comment which is later sneeringly taken down by Dooku. Qui-Gon says something cautious about Dooku, and Obi-Wan responds with disbelief about Qui-Gon, leading to Anakin expressing his frustrations about Obi-Wan. Ahsoka wonders how she got into this mess.

p. 158: Transcending Death. This section was originally much more extensive, since I treated it as just one more subject that should be covered in a Jedi textbook. But in light of Revenge of the Sith, Lucasfilm has made a ruling that most Jedi don't know the technique for merging one's spirit with the Force and that it is something relatively unique that Qui-Gon learned at great effort. But, because a lot of earlier sources (including Tales of the Jedi) show Jedi turning into Force ghosts all the time, I tried to establish that the technique, while once known to a few, has since been lost. Most of the commentary, therefore, is from Luke.

p. 160: Here's the last page of the book! This long list of publishing indicia sort of breaks the illusion of an in-universe textbook, but we couldn't get around it and it's relatively unobtrusive. This is a good opportunity to thank everbody listed on this page. Thanks once again to Lucasfilm's J.W. Rinzler, Troy Alders, Leland Chee, and Carol Roeder; becker&mayer's Delia Greve, Rosanna Brockley, Chris Tanner, Todd Rider, and Larry Weiner, artists Paul Allan Ballard, Jeff Carlisle, Tommy Lee Edwards, Ryan Hobson, Greg Knight, Chris Reiff, Derek Thompson, Chris Trevas, Terryl Whitlach, Kieran Yanner, and the studios of Conceptopolis and Storm Lion. Also big thanks to Sarah Tomashek at Amazon and publicist Elena Stokes!

Endnotes for Star Wars: The Jedi Path (part 3 of 4)

2010-12-08T21:00:00.000-06:00

JEDI PADAWAN

p. 49: The Padawan section begins with an overview of how to "try out" for prospective Masters. Much of this process came from the Jedi Apprentice series of young-adult books written by Jude Watson.

p. 50: This section is titled "Working With Your Master," and if you had to boil the instructions down to one word it would be OBEY.

Are the Jedi big Shepard Fairey fans? Well maybe. But seriously, everything we know about the Jedi results in the conclusion that they would operate under the principles of "listen to your elders" and "don't question your elders." Again, the Jedi are convinced that they've already found the answers and that their very existence -- as magic-users, as future-seers, as an order that has existed for tens of thousands of millennia -- is proof that they've found the RIGHT answers. I think this makes sense, from a certain point of view (and at least until Revenge of the Sith brings about the extermination of the Jedi). Anakin Skywalker is one Jedi who doesn't think it makes sense.

p. 52: Growing Your Padawan Braid. So how do aliens without hair grow the distinctive Padawan rat-tail? They don't, but this section gives several alternatives including Ahsoka Tano's silka beads. The idea that Swokes Swokes apprentices would implant medallions beneath their flesh comes from the backstory of the Swokes Swokes species that I created for the roleplaying book Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds. (Which resulted in this amazing Mark Tedin illustration.)

p. 54: Here's Gal-Stod Slagistrough, the AgriCorps Jedi. He's a Nuknog. This poor guy has been asked to contribute a chapter to a textbook whose other authors are some of the greatest Jedi Masters in the Order, including the head of the High Council! But rather than take this as an honor, he feels really out of his depth and has already talked himself out of the possibility that he can do just as good a job as the rest of the writers. Originally Gal-Slod Slagistrough was a LOT more self-pitying but I toned it down a lot during a rewrite.

p. 58: This discussion of the Jedi Exploration Corps mentions that they can use the Force to smooth out hyperspace tangles and travel through territory labeled unnavigable. This is a Force ability that we've seen directly and indirectly, both in the novels and in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Jedi Master Saesee Tiin is said to be good with this ability.

p. 60: The painting and the ship diagram are by Jeff Carlisle. Jeff did most of the transport-related illustrations throughout the book.

p. 63: This list of lightsaber variants is a compilation of designs from various sources. The lightclub is from the game Dark Forces: Jedi Knight. The dual-phase lightsaber is from the novel I, Jedi. The lightsaber pike is from the game The Force Unleashed. The lightwip is from the Marvel comics Star Wars series.

These lightsaber diagrams, and most similar diagram-type equipment and weapons designs, are by Chris Reiff.

p. 65: This list of lightsaber countermeasures is also a compilation of various stuff. Cortosis ore is from the novel Vision of the Future. Ultrachrome is from the novel Shatterpoint. Phrik alloy is from the game Dark Forces. Mandalorian iron originated in the comics series Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising. Felucian bones are a reference to the game The Force Unleashed and is meant to illustrate that certain naturally-occurring organic substances could also be used as countermeasures. Readers have since pointed out that, according toThe Force Unleashed Campaign Guide, the Felucian enemies may have been using the Force directly to enhance their bone-swords.

p. 66: Lightsaber forms. A lot has been done in this area already. Most of the work was laid down by David West Reynolds for the article "Fightsaber: Jedi Lightsaber Combat" in issue #62 of Star Wars Insider magazine.

Form II is basically fencing. It's Count Dooku's form.

Form III is defensive only and good for protecting oneself against blaster fire. Obi-Wan Kenobi is said to be a master at this form.

Form IV is Yoda's acrobatic style from Attack of the Clones.

Form V emphasizes brute strength. It's Vader's form.

Form VI is the less-demanding "diplomat's form." What's handy about this is that it forgives bad stunt acting. Basically, if there's an extra in the background of a Star Wars movie who doesn't look like he knows how to hold a sword, you can assign that Jedi to Form VI.

p. 77: The Marks of Contact were fun. I liked the fact that the Jedi consider a stab to the heart the #1 way to score a fatality, followed by cutting off the head at #2. Cutting off a hand or arm, as Obi-Wan did in the cantina, is considered a merciful way to end combat. The Jedi are hardcore!

p. 81: Among the powers classed as Sense abilities is the ability to hone your five senses to Daredevil-like levels of acuteness. The scholarly name provided here for postcognition, tai vordrax, was originally a different term written in High Galactic faux-Latin. I rewrote it when Lucasfilm urged me to lay off a bit on the Latin.

p. 82: What do the Jedi carry in their pockets? String, or nothing! In The Phantom Menace we see that the Jedi wear utility belts, and just as Batman always has the right tool for the job the Jedi would therefore carry anything the writer needed them to have in a particular story, up to and including space-shark repellent. But we needed to provide the basics in this spread. The Jedi would never be caught without a breather, a comlink, food capsules, etc.

p. 84: There's a typo in the passage about the analysis droids. The SP-44 model should have been the SP-4.

p. 86: Here's a quick overview of the galaxy's most important species circa 1000 BBY. I like the stylized portraits, particularly the Squib, which were done by Derek Thompson.

p. 90: The Force-wielding animals were illustrated by Terryl Whitlach, one of the concept artists for The Phantom Menace. She also worked on the amazing book The Wildlife of Star Wars, which is one of my favorite SW books of all time. We did a mutual signing a couple weeks ago: I signed Terryl's copy of The Jedi Path and she signed my nine-year old copy ofThe Wildlife of Star Wars.

p. 93: Praxeum ships, or mobile Jedi training academies, originate with the novel The Courtship of Princess Leia. In that book the ancient training vessel Chu'unthor is found shipwrecked on the planet Dathomir. Since the text of The Jedi Path was written a thousand years ago, the Chu'unthor couldn't be referenced since it wasn't built yet. Instead, three other ships -- the Beneficia, the Luminosity, and the Silikan Stillness -- were invented. Jedi Ace Crix Sunburris is seen to be an avid lobbyist for the construction of a ship like the Chu'unthor, but in typical fashion he wants the craft to be named the Sunburris.

The Corellian colonizer and the Aurek strike fighter are brand-new ship designs. Both are by Jeff Carlisle.

p. 96: In various sources to date there have been differing accounts of what goes on during the Jedi Trials. For The Jedi Path I created a hybrid of all of them and expanded on the details. Hopefully any discrepancies can be accounted for by the passage of ten centuries.

Central to my premise for the Jedi Trials was the fact that the Council was finally codifying and formalizing the five Trials of Skill, Courage, Spirit, Flesh, and Insight. During the war against the Sith the Jedi were very lax about enforcing these rules and would routinely issue battlefield promotions.

p. 100: The the weirdest revelation on this page is: "During the Pius Dea era, the Jedi Order subjected Padawans to torments of cold, cuts, sonic shocks, and the application of sustained, low-powered blaster fire in the technique that the smugglers call 'the Burning.'" I invented the Pius Dea era for the New Essential Chronology; it runs from 12,000-11,000 BBY. In my head I see it as a little bit of the Crusades mixed with a little bit of the Spanish Inquisition. "The Burning" is something borrowed from the Brian Daley novel Han Solo at Stars' End.

The Jedi Trials illustrations are by Kieran Yanner.

p. 102: The Trial of Insight was an interesting one. I believe that the most successful, most powerful people in the world are probably the easiest people to fool, since they tend to think think that their success in one area translates into success in every area. (I'm looking at you, Bono.) Therefore the Trial of Insight would be the Council's attempt to arm their Jedi with some measure of defense against fast talkers and street magicians. That being said, I'm still not convinced it would be entirely successful. Under the right circumstances I think a skilled con artist could outwit a skilled Jedi.

p. 106: The Knighting ceremony originates with Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars animated shorts. During the ceremony the Padawan braid is cut off with a lightsaber. The whole thing is satisfyingly Arthurian.

REMOVABLE: The Padawan braid was on the list of souvenirs from the very beginning. I wanted it to be from somebody we recognized from the movies (sorry, Thame Cerulian) and didn't want to run into continuity trouble later with Obi-Wan or somebody. Therefore, this is Qui-Gon's braid. After you're done reading the book perhaps you can analyze the hair sample to determine if Qui-Gon died of arsenic poisoning.

p. 109: In the margins of this page, the Jedi students go off on a tangent discussing the failed Padawan Half-Moonsing, caretaker of the Jedi motor pool. In my head I pictured Half-Moonsing as a Weequay.

Endnotes for Star Wars: The Jedi Path (part 2 of 4)

2010-12-06T21:02:00.001-06:00

JEDI INITIATE

p. 19: New Jedi students are assigned to clans, sort of like the houses in Harry Potter I suppose. (How come nobody ever wants to join Hufflepuff?) Becasue I would be providing a lot of clan names here I made sure to include the Bear Clan from Attack of the Clones. The other clan names are from a variety of sources or are newly-invented. The Dragon Clan is new but dragons exist in Star Wars in many forms from Krayt Dragons to Star Dragons. The Katarn Clan is named after the predator from Kashyyyk. The Bergruufta Clan appeared in the General Grievous comic and is based on an elephant-like animal. The Heliost Clan is also new; I invented the animal based on a creature that I envisioned would possess the cultural qualities of the owl.

A couple of bonus clans are in the margins. Ahsoka Tano is an alumnus of the Clawmouse Clan (the clan is new, but the clawmouse is from the game Rebel Assault II), and Thame Cerulian graduated from the Thranta Clan (the thranta is a flying manta ray from Alderaan and Bespin).

p. 20: This section on Jedi uniforms is provided by Morrit Ch'gally. He's a recruiter responsible for bringing new candidates to the Temple to be trained. Because he spends so much time in the "real world" I imagined that he was much more world-weary than the Jedi who remained in the Temple, and that he had long ago reached a point where he was sick and tired of having to explain himself to angry villagers.

Also, although I loathe the widespread practice of inserting apostrophes in sci-fi names to make them look "spacey," for some reason I did it here. Mea culpa.

p. 21: The cute furball youngling, drawn by Paul Allan Ballard, is a Drall. I love this illustration.

p. 23: This section is written by Jedi Seer Sabla-Mandibu. I envisioned her as a true believer in the power of the Force, something like the overenthusiastic hippie who won't stop talking about the Age of Aquarius and how crystals can reinforce your chi.

I derived her name from TheForce.net's Amanda Bulat, after seeing @MandyBu scroll by on my Twitter stream.

p. 25: There are some harsh words laid down here regarding love for your birth family. From her prism, I get it. To the Jedi, only a Spock-like attitude will enable them to put aside their personal feelings and serve all the galaxy's citizens fairly. On the other hand, it makes the Jedi hugely unsympathetic. Was Anakin doomed from the start? Food for thought.

p. 26: Control, Sense, and Alter are Force categories first introduced by West End Games in the late 1980s. I like to think of them as Control Your Body, Sense Your Environment, and Alter Your Surroundings to better understand what each category is all about. Young Jedi would probably work on all three categories simultaneously, but as they grew their emphasis would probably shift to Sense and then to Alter. Therefore I spaced the three categories throughout the book.

"Curato salva" and "altus sopor" are High Galactic names for Force abilities. You can pretty clearly see that High Galactic is a form of pseudo-Latin. You can usually divine their meanings if you have a rudimentary Latin background. This isn't the last instance of pseudo-Latin in the book. In fact, at one point Lucasfilm asked me to tone it down already.

REMOVABLE: The fold-out map of the Jedi Temple is drawn by Chris Reiff. It provides a blueprint of the whole structure and has four fold-out wings.

p. 30: The section on the galaxy is written by Jedi Ace Crix Sunburris. He's a cocky showboater who thinks everything he says is brilliant, and I imagined him with a bit of a Buzz Lightyear streak.

p. 32: The galactic map has one typo: Caamas is listed as Aamas.

p. 34: The section on galactic animals is written by Jedi Beastmaster Bowspritz. He's passionate about his area of expertise and tends to talk a little too much. Among the new creations in this section is the Troiken indectidile, a spiky centipede that I'd originally intended to appear back in 2001 in a "University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life" article in Star Wars Gamer magazine.

p. 36: The section on lightsaber combat is written by Jedi Battlemaster Skarch Vaunk. Given the fact that this section is addressed to children, I'd imagine that her primary concern is ensuring that her students don't accidentally cut off their own heads.

Mentioned in this section is the new fact that Jedi students need to undergo five mandatory meditation sessions per day, plus additional mandatory periods for excercise, combat training, library instruction, and more. In my opinion, life in the Jedi Temple wouldn't really be all that much fun. The Jedi are creating an army of warrior-monks -- by the end of the day I think the students would be so exhausted they'd crash on their cots. I think it would feel a lot more like Marine boot camp than Hogwarts.

p. 37: These illustrations are by Paul Allan Ballard. Rising Meditation, which allows the practitioner to levitate, is what Luke was doing in the comics series Shadows of the Empire: Evolution.

p. 38: Two more youngling clans are mentioned here: Tra'cor (an aquatic cousin of the rancor from Socorro) and Boma (a four-legged animal from Onderon).

REMOVABLE: This is my favorite of the book's removables -- a napkin from Dex's Diner with Obi-Wan's lightsaber design scribbled on the back. The napkin has a DEX'S DINER logo printed in Aurebesh and several big coffee stains. Based on Obi-Wan's friendship with Dex inAttack of the Clones it's obvious that the diner was a hangout. I imagined a jittery, overcaffeinated Obi-Wan sitting alone in a booth scribbling with a pen until he found one he liked so much he had to fold it up and save it in a book for future reference.

p. 43: The introduction to Form I (and Form Zero) combat in this section provides the foundation for the more advanced forms to follow. Tommy Lee Edwards did the art for combat stances throughout the book and told me he based it on karate manuals and similar books. Also in this section is a reference to the Tythonese Sky Judge Culoph, who is a new character created to voice an old quote. His quote, "The best blades are kept in their sheaths," is from the comic Star Wars Jedi: Yoda.

p. 45: Not every student becomes a Padawan. Those that aren't selected by a Master for apprenticeship usually join the Jedi Service Corps. For a student, I imagine that this would be a huge disappointment. And that, consequently, Padawans, Knights, and Masters would inevitably think less of their comrades in the Service Corps. They'd deny it of course, and the best among them would keep it well-hidden. But the Jedi have ranks, and ranks hold power, and I can't imagine a scenario under which the Service Corps Jedi aren't treated as the outsiders of the elite.

Endnotes for Star Wars: The Jedi Path (part 1 of 4)

2010-12-03T11:52:00.000-06:00

FRONT MATERIAL AND INTRODUCTION

Even at the conceptual stage we knew this would be an "in-universe artifact" that looked as if it had come from the galaxy far far away. That included the handwritten annotations from previous owners in the margins. In this vein the book is similar to JK Rowling's Harry Potter extras Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, and also Pocket Books' The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones.

The lineup of previous owners, of course, needed to include familiar Jedi from the movies. This was a problem since it prevented me from figuring out a satisfactory timeline for quite a while. At first I wanted to include notes from Yoda back when he was a rookie Padawan, but given that Yoda was 900 during the movies that would have required a centuries-long gap between Yoda's comments and those of, say, Count Dooku.

Ultimately I decided the book had been printed in approximately the year 115 BBY (115 years before Episode IV: A New Hope). Yoda, already an adult and Jedi Master at that point, would therefore have simply "reviewed" this particular printing with an eye toward improving the text for future revisions while recording a few sentimental notes). Somehow Yoda's review copy got into the hands of Jedi student Thame Cerulian. From there, we could execute a pretty clean pass-down chain.

So who's Thame Cerulian? He is the only owner of the book to spring from the Expanded Universe. In the Jedi Apprentice series of young-adult novels Thame is said to have been Dooku's former master. Yes, it's true that in Attack of the Clones Dooku implies that Yoda was his master, but Yoda seems to have trained everyone at some point (witness Obi-Wan's line "...there you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me"). On the inside front cover you can see the lineup of the book's owners and annotators. Here it is, along with my guess for when each of them possessed the book:

Yoda: Reviewed the book for a round of updates that never materialized. Owned it around 115 BBY.
Thame Cerulian: Owned the book throughout his youth, or approximately 115-103 BBY.
Dooku: Received the book from Thame Cerulian, his Master. Owned it approximately 89-82 BBY.
Qui-Gon Jinn: Received the book from Dooku, his Master. Owned it approximately 82-72 BBY.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Received the book from Qui-Gon, his Master, following a gap of a couple decades. Owned it approximately 44-32 BBY.
Anakin Skywalker: Received the book from Obi-Wan, his Master. Owned it approximately 32-22 BBY.
Ahsoka Tano: Recieved the book from Anakin, her Master. Owned it approximately 22-19 BBY, during the Clone Wars.
Darth Sidious/The Emperor: Seized the book as spoils of war in 19 BBY, possibly from the ruins of the Jedi Temple. The Jedi Path was apparently a common enough textbook and normally wouldn't have sparked much interest, but this particular copy has a special pedigree. Not only did Sidious keep the book as a trophy, he wrote in it too.
Luke Skywalker: Recovered the book from garbage salvagers operating near the Emperor's destroyed throneworld of Byss in 24 ABY, prior to the events of the New Jedi Order novels.

Removable: There's a letter from Luke Skywalker (on official Jedi stationery!) tucked into the inside front cover that explains the ownership timeline to the new reader.

(my own notes, in much less distinctive handwriting)

Each annotator has a unique handwriting style (which could presumably be used as a guide to how they might write in-universe). Qui-Gon uses green ink, which was an intentional design decision by becker&mayer editor Delia Greve and designer Rosanna Brockley due to Qui-Gon's connection to the Living Force (and, come to think of it, the color of his lightsaber). By the same token, Darth Sidious writes using red ink.

Okay, let's address the elephant in the room. They're all writing in ENGLISH! Shouldn't they at least be writing in the faux typeface of Aurebesh?

Well, two things:

Obviously, we couldn't get away from the practical consideration that real-world buyers needed to read the book.
But continuity sticklers, don't despair! It's actually 100% correct that the book is printed in English. Star Wars takes place in an imaginary galaxy far, far away, in which English has been seen on the Death Star's tractor beam controls, in the shape of X-wings and Y-wings, and in which Arabic numerals are used on data readouts. John Hazlett's excellent article "The Written Word" on starwars.com retcons all this in entertaining fashion by establishing English as Old High Galactic, Greek ("attack pattern Delta!") as Tionese, and Hebrew (Vader's chest plate markings) as Old Sith.

Okay, so we've established that this particular copy of the book dates from 115 BBY. But the content inside is much, much older. Roughly a thousand years older, or to be specific, dating from the year 990 BBY.

The reason for this is threefold:

I wanted to capture the Jedi at the height of their power, back when they were basically running the galaxy.
I wanted to include details like the Sith "Rule of Two," which didn't exist until 1000 BBY.
I wanted to indirectly establish that the Jedi were stuck in their ways. The Jedi are awesome, but they're soaking in millennia of tradition and are unwilling to try anything new. (Every time I thought I was going to far on this point, I'd remember the scene in Attack of the Clones where the Jedi librarian states that if something isn't ALREADY in the Jedi Archives, then it DOESN'T EXIST.) The idea that the Jedi have been reprinting the same textbook for a thousand years was an expression of this. I believe that this inflexibility was the Jedi Achilles' Heel.

But even though they're inflexible, the Jedi are true believers in their philosophy. Heck, it's BECAUSE they are true believers in their philosophy that they're inflexible. In fact, if they weren't all slaughtered in Revenge of the Sith, I'd be willing to entertain the idea that the Jedi were RIGHT to be inflexible because they had already figured out the secret of the universe.

So, for a textbook written a thousand years ago during the height of Jedi power, nearly everything in the text had to express the official version of Jedi orthodoxy. But I didn't want it to feel dry, like an algebra textbook. To help with this I came up with a list of seven Jedi Masters who would have written different chapters of The Jedi Path, along with their backgrounds and personalities. This way when I needed to write something fairly technical I could still put myself in the shoes of that particular teller and include a joke, a snooty putdown, a ridiculous boast, or some other bit of color.

Taken from my original outline, here's the lineup of ancient Jedi Masters who wrote the text forThe Jedi Path. You'll note that one of them, Analysis Droid JN-66/X2, didn't survive past the outline stage. It was important to me that I have an equal number of males & females, as well as an equal number of humans and aliens:

Grand Master Fae Coven: A wise female Jenet who heads the High Council.
Jedi Ace Crix Sunburris: A male human starfighter pilot and a bit of a braggart.
Chief Librarian Restelly Quist: A female human who values knowledge above all other disciplines.
Jedi Biologist Bowspritz: A male Tynnan who gets excited about his area of expertise.
Jedi Battlemaster Skarch Vaunk: A female Anx and lightsaber expert.
Jedi Seer Sabla-Mandibu: A female Miraluka with a deep understanding of the Force.
Jedi Recruiter Morrit Ch'gally: A male human who brings new recruits to the Temple.
Analysis Droid JN-66/X2: A by-the-book droid assigned to work in the Jedi analysis chamber.
AgCorps Jedi Gal-Stod Slagistrough: A male Nuknog who was not chosen as a Padawan and instead joined the Agricultural Corps.

Note that only two of these writers receive portraits: Grand Master Fae Coven on p. 157, and Jedi Battlemaster Skarch Vaunk on p. 118.

Removable: The mini poster of the Jedi Code is burned at the bottom, to indicate the age of the book and the hazards of time and tide. In the text, this version of the Jedi Code is mentioned as its "classical form," as transcribed by "Homonix Rectonia during the early Manderon Period." The mention that there are other -- more controversial -- versions of the Jedi Code is an acknowledgement of how ridiculously tangled Jedi lore would have to be after 25,000 years of growth. I mean, look at Biblical scholarship for just one parallel. Think of how many Bible translations exist -- King James, New American Standard, International Standard, the Catholic Edition, the Living Bible -- and how many fierce defenders of each text exist. The Jedi Order would have that problem x1000, and their insistence that the answers are obvious and free from controversy is just whistling past the graveyard.

p. 8: Here, Chief Librarian Restelly Quist gives her interpretation of the Jedi Order's history. You'll also see a picture of Qui-Ko, an ancient seer of Tython (and someone whom Qui-Gon could have been named after). This section also contains my interpretation for why the Jedi Order prefers to use lightsabers. Because they are in touch with their own bodies through the Living Force, the Jedi view the lightsaber as a natural extension of their arm. By contrast, a ranged weapon like a blaster rifle feels uncomfortably detached and divorced from the self.

p. 13: Look, here's the Prophecy of the Chosen One! Just kidding, it's been ripped out. Back when this book was in the outline stage we intended to have a section on the Chosen One, but Lucasfilm let us know that they would be doing some very interesting things in that area relatively soon. To avoid a conflict, and to reinforce the sense that this was an old text that had been damaged over time, we elected to "rip out" these pages and leave only fragments behind. But text would still be visible on the fragments. I didn't want this fragmentary text to read "lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" and therefore I wrote a full Prophecy of the Chosen One entry, knowing that it would never make it into the final version.

REMOVABLE: The note written by Luke was added late in the game. We were worried that some buyers would see these pages and be upset that their copy of the book had been vandalized. Luke reassures readers that the pages were already missing when he took possession of the book, and he speculates that the Emperor was the vandal.

A Busy Black Friday for Star Wars: The Jedi Path

2010-11-26T19:48:00.004-06:00

Say what you will about Black Friday, but the U.S. tradition of mad shopping the day after Thanksgiving can genuinely earn you mad deals. Early this morning, Amazon marked The Jedi Path down by 55%, listing it for only $45.

According to Amazon, it went like lightning. Within 30 minutes of the deal going live, Amazon had sold out of all available units and had hundreds of people on the waiting list (in case anyone decides to return their coupon).

All that activity in such a short window caused the book to shoot up the Amazon bestseller list. It hit #1 on most of the sci-fi sub-categories, but more impressively The Jedi Path hit #15 among all books on Amazon!

Sure, I realize it's a temporary thing, but it was huge fun seeing The Jedi Path ranked above John Grisham and James Patterson. Ranking higher in the list? George Bush, Sarah Palin, Jay-Z, and John Stewart. Ranking lower? Barack Obama and JK Rowling!

This is a great opportunity to thank the people who helped bring the book to life, including editor Delia Greve, designer Rosanna Brockley, Amazon's Sarah Tomashek, publicist Elena Stokes, Lucasfilm's Jonathan Rinzler and Leland Chee, and artists Paul Allan Ballard, Jeff Carlisle, Tommy Lee Edwards, Ryan Hobson, Greg Knight, Chris Reiff, Derek Thompson, Chris Trevas, Terryl Whitlatch, Kieran Yanner, and the studios of Conceptopolis and Storm Lion.

And big thanks to the Star Wars fans who have bought the book and who have asked questions or given feedback. May the cranberry sauce be with you.

Out Now - DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking

2010-11-21T14:31:00.004-06:00

Taschen's DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking is a gigantic art collection and the most epic coffee table book I've ever seen. It's written by former DC president Paul Levitz. I contributed captions alongside John Wells, Marty Pasco, and Mark Waid.

I said gigantic, I meant gigantic. Here's Paul Levitz reading the book. Now here's me holding the case the book comes in. It's 720 pages and weighs 16 pounds.

But the scale is vital to the presentation. Taschen is known for their art books, and the scale of the images in The Art of Modern Mythmaking offers a fresh way to look at panels, pages, covers, and historical photos from the 1935-2010 era of DC Comics.

For a taste of the content, here's an online reader where you can flip through the first 100 pages. (Check out the beautiful Action Comics underwater sequence on p. 88, one of my all-time favorites.)

I worked on the captions in the period spanning the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, which included legendary DC releases like Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Moore's Watchmen, and Neil Gaiman's Sandman, plus work by underground artists including Chris Ware, Paul Pope, and Daniel Clowes. Among other creator spotlights in this era are those of Grant Morrison, Bruce Timm, Jim Lee, Darwyn Cooke, Geoff Johns, Bill Willingham, Tim Sale, and Alex Ross.

Check it out online, and remember that it makes a perfect holiday gift for the giant in your life.

Bonus Online Content: Knight Errant and Star Wars: The Essential Atlas

2010-11-13T21:16:00.001-06:00

Knight Errant is the story of a Jedi Knight stranded behind enemy lines a thousand years before the movies, and the newest bonus content for Star Wars: The Essential Atlas details the pocket of Sith space where the stories will take place.

Essential Atlas Extra: The Knight Errant Gazetteer is a bonus online article written from the point of view of Jedi Master Vannar Treece, and it provides an in-universe look at what the Republic knows about Sith space as the Knight Errant series begins. Due to centuries of plague and warfare, they don't know much. But as readers will soon discover, many of the locations in this gazetteer will come into play as the story unfolds -- and then you'll see just what the Republic got right and what they got very, very wrong.

Jason Fry and I wrote this in collaboration with John Jackson Miller, who is writing both the Knight Errant comics series from Dark Horse (issues #1-2 are out now) and the Knight Errant novel from Del Rey (due in late January). The piece features new maps by Modi and a surface map of Chelloa by Christopher West. Best of all it's free -- no Hyperspace paywall.

While you're at it, don't forget to read John Jackson Miller's online Knight Errant short story, Influx!

Tracking "Boba Fett's Invoice," or Hey, It Went Viral!

2010-10-29T01:49:00.000-05:00

Brock Davis created a funny Star Wars image and we spent 24 hours tracking it as it blew up.

The image is "Boba's Invoice," a bill presented by Fett to Jabba the Hutt for delivery of one (1) Han Solo in carbonite. Brock is a genius creator who has done art pieces for Wired, Money, Threadless, and whose "Living Teacup" was featured on Tosh.0.

"Boba's Invoice" was both cleverly written and cleverly designed, with its retro mimeograph look evoking the late '70s-early '80s era when the Star Wars movies were originally released.

Brock is a buddy and former colleague, and I helped him work out the invoice's geeky details including the dating system and Jabba's full name. Yesterday morning (Wednesday) he gave me a heads-up that the piece was finished and that he was posting it on his Flickr photostream.

At first we used base-level social media outlets -- Facebook and Twitter -- to let people know about it. After only a few hours the page had over 1,000 views, which seemed promising.

During late morning, I submitted the "Boba's Invoice" page to Digg, Reddit, The Daily What, and BoingBoing. The Digg submission died. The Reddit submission seemed to die, but only because somebody else had already posted it before me. Nothing showed up from The Daily What. But BoingBoing picked it up! Total views leap up to 15,000.

Mid-afternoon, the beast begins to feed itself as it gets passed along from one site to the next. Buzzfeed, Rampaged Reality, ThinkGeek, and the Tumblr network play kickball. Total views are now nearly 20,000.

Late afternoon: The Daily What comes through! More stragglers follow, including College Humor. Total views are now over 33,000.

We go to bed and check stats again in the morning, to create a clean snapshot of the first 24 hours. At that point the page has 47,472 views. The biggest external traffic driver is Reddit, followed by BoingBoing, Facebook, and Twitter.

So what did we learn? I'm not entirely sure, but I tried to collect our thoughts in this Scribd presentation, "Tracking Boba's Invoice."

Tracking Bobas Invoice

I might develop some more profound thoughts once I've had the time to ruminate on it a bit more, but the point was to collect the available data and make a snapshot analysis within only 24 hours. After all, as we point out in the presentation, these kind of things have the lifespan of a mayfly.

The Top 10 Oddities from the Golden Age of DC Comics

2010-10-22T12:45:00.004-05:00

DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle is out now! This 350-page coffee-table book provides a look at the history of DC from 1935-2010 to celebrate the company's 75th anniversary. It's a beautiful look at the heroes, storylines, writers, and artists within the publishing house that has brought us everybody from Batman to Black Bison.

I co-wrote the book with Alex Irvine, Matthew Manning, Mike McAvennie, and Alan Cowsill, and I was responsible for the section that focused on DC's Golden Age, i.e. the years from 1935-1949. The Golden Age of Comics is generally considered to be the era that birthed the superhero, dating roughly from Superman's introduction in 1938's Action Comics #1 to the wane of the superhero at the end of the '40s. (The resurgence of the superhero in the late 1950s is what distinguishes the Silver Age.)

DC knocked it out of the park during the Golden Age. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Joker, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Catwoman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Lex Luthor -- all came out of the Golden Age and all are icons. And the creators! Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Alex Toth, Sheldon Mayer, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, William Moulton Marston, Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert, Bob Kane, Bill Finger... you get the idea. Every credits box is like a Hall of Fame induction ballot.

Working in the Golden Age was a revelation. During this era comics were still finding their footing, and most of the DC's experiments were short-lived, surprising, or just plain weird. Here's a list of the top 10 oddities from DC's Golden Age:

1) DC Once Published Walt Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

The story of how Walt Disney lost the rights to his original character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is a classic Hollywood cautionary tale. In 1928, Walt Disney and Oswald co-creator Ub Iwerks walked away when Universal asked them to take a pay cut. Courtesy of his new bosses at Universal, Oswald briefly appeared in DC's very first comic, New Fun (1935).

Walt Disney, of course, replaced Oswald with the much more famous Mickey Mouse, and the Disney Corporation regained the rights to Oswald in 2006. Oswald and Mickey appear side-by-side in the 2010 game Epic Mickey.

2) Dr. Occult is the Oldest Character in the DCU

Superman and Batman have been around for over 70 years, but Dr. Occult trumps them both. The trenchcoat-clad Mystic Detective, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, debuted inNew Fun #6 (October 1935). In current continuity he's one of the more powerful members of the DCU's magical community and makes regular guest appearances.

3) Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Loved Them Some Sci-Fi

The writer/artist team of Siegel & Shuster hadn't sold their Superman concept yet, but by the mid-1930s they were at least working for a paycheck at DC. Both were huge science fiction fans (as high schoolers they had started their own fan magazine entitled Science Fiction) but DC had hired them to work on a crime prodedural called Federal Men. Did that stop them? Nah. In issue #10 of New Comics (1936) the Federal Men face an island of mad scientists and giant robots, and issue #12 of New Adventure Comics (1937) sees the Federal Men discuss "the future of scientific crime detection" as an awkward segue into a sci-fi tale about space pirates.

4) Slam Bradley is the King of the One-Liners

Detective Comics is Batman's book, but the Dark Knight didn't actually show up until issue #27. In Detective Comics #1 the star is arguably Siegel & Shuster's Slam Bradley, a two-fisted detective with absurd levels of machismo who gleefully spins a Chinese thug through the air by his topknot.

Among Slam's colorful bits of dialogue:

"Are y'gonna talk, or do I get the pleasure of splashin' up the walls with your face?"
"Don't mind my torn shirt, lady! This is a special occasion -- the first time I ever met a dime store princess!"
"Tough, eh? I bet I can make him wiggle his ears!"
"Jumpin' blue blazes! Is this what I was dragged out of a good fight for?"
"Higher, y' fish-faced amoeba! Jump higher or I'll beat the hide off you!"

5) DC's Wartime Covers Are Beautifully Bizarre

During World War II, DC's books encouraged American patriotism and promoted scrap drives and war bonds. For DC Comics Year by Year we reviewed dozens of covers, and ultimately included Superman's smiling approval of Lois Lane's triple date with a soldier, sailor, and Marine and Robin getting all tuckered out after planting a Victory Garden.

Here are a few of my favorite covers that we didn't use. Superman and Batman throwing baseballs at Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo:

This, um, very masculine cover:

and Batman cheerfully giving someone a gun. (Think about it.)

6) Jay Garrick Never Bothered With a Secret Identity
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By the time the Flash debuted in 1940's Flash Comics #1, the superheroic secret identity had become a genre convention used everywhere from Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne to Lee Travis, the Crimson Avenger. That's why the Flash's introduction was so unusual. After gaining super-speed, university researcher Jay Garrick nonchalantly pulls stunts like playing a tennis match against himself and humiliating a rival football team. When he ultimately decides to become a superhero, I guess it makes sense that he doesn't bother with a mask.

7) The Green Lantern Oath Was All Over the Place

Green Lantern fans know Hal Jordan's "In brightest day, in blackest night" oath by heart. Superfans also know the oath of the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott: "And I shall shed my light over dark evil, for the dark things cannot stand the light, the light of the Green Lantern!" But did you know that Alan Scott actually invented the "Brightest Day" oath in 1943? And that he immediately ditched it and used a revolving-door array of oaths? Among the better bits: "My rays strike the darkest corner, banishing all wickedness!" from All-American Comics#45, and "As the green rays strike forth into darkness, so may all black evil be exposed and driven away!" from All-American Comics #47.

8) DC Has a Vast Funny-Animal Graveyard

In the 1940s nobody could guarantee that superheroes were anything more than a fad. Hoping for a new hit, DC launched crime, western, and humor titles, and placed a huge bet on funny animals. Five separate animal titles hit newsstands between 1944-1946: Funny Stuff (starring Rufus Lion and McSnurtle the Turtle), Real Screen Comics (Fox and Crow, Flippety and Flop), Animal Antics (Presto Pete, Raccoon Kids), Funny Folks (Sweeney & Willie, Nutsy Squirrel) and Leading Comics (Peter Porkchops, Nero Fox the Jive-Jumping Emperor of Ancient Rome). Most of them didn't survive the 1950s. Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew is actually part of a long DC tradition.

9) Green Lantern's Dog Was More Popular Than He Was

With superheroes fading fast in the late 1940s, Green Lantern got a sidekick in Streak the Wonder Dog. In Streak's debut (1948's Green Lantern #30) the dog gets the cover gag while the hero of the book watches passively from the sidelines. Eight issues later, Green Lantern wasn't on the cover at all! Streak jumps on a car roof to outwit a mysterious menace, but unfortunately, poor Streak had no reason to gloat. DC pulled the plug on Green Lantern with that very issue, and the comic wouldn't return until 1960.

10) Wonder Woman Went From Nazi-Fighting to Husband-Hunting

In 1949, DC decided to double down on the romance genre. The company launchedRomance Trail, Secret Hearts, Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood, and Girls' Love Stories, and reworked Wonder Woman's Sensation Comics into a lovelorn anthology featuring "Dr. Pat" and "Romance Inc." To better fit with her new surroundings, Wonder Woman spent more time fielding marriage proposals from her man in uniform, Steve Trevor. The logo of Sensation Comics even changed from block letters to script lettering.

If you want to know more about the book, here's Wired's Geek Dad on DC Comics Year by Year.

MTV Geek: Jedi Path Publicity Roundup from New York Comic-Con

2010-10-21T21:29:00.015-05:00

Not only was New York Comic-Con a great scene, but it was also a natural venue to promote books. Most major U.S. media outlets are headquartered in NYC and could afford to send somebody crosstown at the very least.

One very cool opportunity was with MTV Geek, MTV's newly-launched portal to cover all things pop cultural. MTV's wonderful Laurel Woods conducted a multi-part video interview with me that covered both The Jedi Path and Star Wars Year by Year.

You can watch the five-part series here:
MTV Geek: Event Coverage; Daniel Wallace | 2010 New York Comic Con
Part 1: A Jedi Artifact
Part 2: The Jedi Greatest Hits
Part 3: Adding to the Star Wars Bible
Part 4: A Lucky Break
Part 5: Star Wars: Year by Year

Geek: Event Coverage - MTV Games

Lots of info in there, including a full walkthrough of The Jedi Path packaging and contents in case you haven't seen it all up close. Other interviews by Newsarama aren't live yet, though I plan to link to them in this post once they go up as well as recordings from Sirius/XM satellite radio.

UPDATE:
Here's the Newsarama interview for The Jedi Path on their site. Since you can't embed video directly from Newsarama, here's a YouTube copy of the same thing:

UPDATE:
BSC Review's video interview for The Jedi Path at NYCC

Barnes and Noble's Explorations blog reviews The Jedi Path

Jedi Path interview on BlogTalkRadio's The Secret Lives of Men

Sirius/XM interview for The Jedi Path on the Alex Bennett Show (Alex Bennett is a legendary DJ active since the 1960s who was friends with John Lennon and Paul McCarney.)

Sirius/XM interview for The Jedi Path on the Mario Armstrong Show. Mario Armstrong is a host and commentator who regularly appears on CNN and NPR to talk about technology.

My Photos from New York Comic-Con 2010

2010-10-13T14:45:00.001-05:00

New York Comic-Con was fantastic! Due to the October timing I had a perfect storm of books to promote (which never happens): Star Wars Year by Year, DC Comics Year by Year, and The Jedi Path.

Highlights included interviews at Siriux/XM Studios (interview with Judith Regan!), the stage combat show put on by the New York Jedi and their hard work promoting The Jedi Path, skybox interviews with Newsarama and MTV Geek (skybox view is the best view!), and the DC 75th Anniversary Panel (I got to sit next to Paul Levitz!)

I didn't get as many costume pics as I'd hoped, but my photos from NYCC are up on Flickr and in this slideshow:

Here's video of the Jedi Path giveaway Saturday evening with the New York Jedi:

My Schedule for New York Comic-Con 2010

2010-10-06T22:25:00.003-05:00

New York Comic-Con is happening this weekend, Oct. 8-10, at the Javits Center on 34th Street. Here's where I'll be!

I'm promoting three books at NYCC: The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle, and DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle. I also worked on 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, but I don't know whether it'll be ready for display at NYCC or not (its official out date is Nov. 18).

Friday morning I'll be doing interviews at the Sirius/XM Studios to promote the Jedi Path. I think this is very, very cool and I can't wait. These should be aired live at the times listed below (EST) if you have satellite radio; some of the segments, like Raw Dog Comedy, will probably be taped and aired later:

Oct. 8, 11:00-11:25am: Alex Bennett (Sirius Left: Sirius Ch. 146, XM Ch. 137)
Oct. 8, 11:30-11:55am: Judith Regan (Sirius XM Stars: Sirius Ch. 102, XM Ch. 155)
Oct. 8, 12:00-12:25pm: Mario Armstrong (The Power: Sirius Ch. 820, XM Ch. 169)
Oct. 8, 12:30-12:55pm: Freewheelin' (Road Dog Trucking: Sirius Ch. 147, XM Ch. 171)
Oct. 8, 1:00-1:25pm: Getting Late (Raw Dog Comedy: Sirius Ch. 104, XM Ch. 150)

After that it's all NYCC all the time:

FRIDAY OCT. 8

3:15-4:15pm: Panel, DC's 75th Anniversary (room 1A24)

5:30-6:30pm: Signing, Star Wars Year by Year (DK booth #2415)

SATURDAY OCT. 9

11:00-12:00pm: Signing, DC Comics Year by Year (DK booth #2415)

1:00-2:00pm: Signing, Star Wars Year by Year (DK booth #2415)

6:30pm: Lightsaber performance by the New York Jedi (Main Stage); I plan to present the prize to the winner of the Jedi Path raffle. Throughout the con you can stop by the New York Jedi booth #243 and check out The Jedi Path in action, buy a copy, or enter to win the free sweepstakes.

SUNDAY OCT. 10

11:30-12:30pm: Signing, DC Comics Year by Year poster (DC Comics booth #2243)

1:00-2:00pm: Signing, Star Wars Year by Year (DK booth #2415)

I really can't wait. Big fun. Please look me up if you're going to be there too!

Win The Jedi Path at New York Comic-Con!

2010-10-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

New York Comic-Con is happening this weekend, and there will be multiple drawings to win a free copy of Star Wars: The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force!

Big thanks to the New York Jedi for helping make this happen. These guys are skilled martial artists and stage combat performers who use lightsabers to teach students about fighting techniques, and who also put on amazing stunt shows. They have branches across the U.S. and internationally which you can check out at SaberWars.com.

The New York Jedi will be at Booth #243 during NYCC and will be:
- Selling copies of The Jedi Path
- Displaying a sample copy in their booth
- Hosting a raffle to win a copy a day

At 6:30pm on the Main Stage they'll be putting on a lightsaber performance which you shouldn't miss. I'll be there too and will present a copy of The Jedi Path to one of the raffle winners.

This should be a lot of fun, so please look me up if you're in New York (you can DM me at twitter.com/danwall88). I'm also doing signings and at least one panel at NYCC and will post a full schedule shortly.
Finally, a rollup of a few Jedi Path publicity pieces from the past week:

The internet's Chris Pirillo posted his own Jedi Path review on his blog. Unfortunately as you'll see, he got the last copy in the universe!
Amazon posted "Traveling the Jedi Path with Author Daniel Wallace" on their Omnivoracious blog, which provides some making-of details including a sneak peek at my endnotes.
I did a Jedi Path interview with The Authors Speak podcast which you can stream or download at the link.
I also did an interview in Second Life about The Jedi Path for the Off the Shelf podcast.
Nathan Butler posted a comprehensive video review for the EU Review Visual Showcase: Episode VI: The Jedi Path Vault Edition.
At Celebration V I did an interview with Dean Plantamura of the 501st Legion, which is now live as part of Episode 59 of the official 501st podcast.

PR ADDENDUM
For more information about THE JEDI PATH or to request an interview with the author, Daniel Wallace, please contact: Elena Stokes, Partner & Founder-Wunderkind PR, elena@NO-SPAMwunderkind-pr.com (*note: please take out NO-SPAM when emailing)